TORONTO, Ontario- The Ontario Lacrosse Association (OLA) today announced the release of the 2000 OLA Major final standings and league scoring statistics.

The Brooklin Redmen finished on top of the six-team OLA Major league with a 13-5-0 record, securing home advantage (where they were undefeated in the regular season) during the entire 2000 playoffs. The Peterborough Lakers (12-6-0) and Brampton Excelsiors (11-7-0) finished second and third respectively.

League parity prevailed as a late season battle produced a three-way tie for the final playoff spot on the final evening of regular season play. St. Catharines advanced to the post-season based on a better regular season head-to-head record against Six Nations and Akwesasne.

This was the most competitive year in a long time said OLA Major Commissioner Jim Brady. We had Brooklin and Peterborough securing playoff positions in their final regular season games, we had a dog-fight for the last playoff spot and scoring was up as a result of introducing wider nets.

By introducing nets with National Lacrosse League (NLL) dimensions, 4' (high) x 4'6" (wide), the 2000 OLA Major season might be remembered as a year of offence. All six teams finished with higher team goals for averages (versus the 1999 season), with Brooklin leading the way: 15.8 this summer versus 11.8 last year. Even the defensive-minded Brampton Excelsiors jumped into the party as Terry Sanderson and Bob McMahon uncharacteristically found themselves coaching the second highest scoring team in the league.

Leading the 2000 Ontario Lacrosse Association Major season in league scoring was John Tavares of the Akwesasne Thunder. Tavares completed the season with 111 points (45g, 66a) in sixteen games. Other players in the top five in league scoring were John Grant Jr. of Peterborough (46g, 58a), 1999 league scoring leader Shawn Williams of Brooklin (45g, 51a), Gary Rosyski of Brooklin (41g, 37a) and rookie Gavin Prout of Brooklin (26g, 47a).

Balloting for OLA Major Awards is on-going in the categories of MVP, Best Defensive Player and Rookie-of-the-Year. Leading MVP candidates include Tavares, Grant, Williams, Cory Bomberry (Six Nations), Anthony Cosmos (St. Catharines) and Bob Watson (Brampton).

The OLA Major playoffs, which begin later this week, lead to the best-of-seven Mann Cup Lacrosse Championship of Canada beginning early September between the Ontario champion and the Western Lacrosse Association (WLA) champion. The 2000 Mann Cup series will be hosted in Ontario.

Complete 2000 OLA Major final standings, league scoring statistics and team scoring statistics are available online at www.ontariolacrosse.com